Swinging axle with caster wheels



.an. 9, 1951 c. F. FORBES 2,537,521

SWINGING AXLE WITH CASTER WHEELS Filed Aug. 19, 1948 2 sheets-sheet 1 FIG. l.

25 23 24 I5 FIG. 2, 27M m 27 INVENTOR 25 CHARLES F. FORBES.l

/%, f1-QW ATTORN EYS Jan. 9, 1951 c. F. FORBES SWINGING AXLE WITH CASTER WHEELS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 19, 1948 FIG. 3.

57 45u47' 5a 47' 45a VFIG.. 5.

1C JU Patented Jan. 9, 1951 um TED. STAT s PAT EN T or r l ce SWINGING-fAXLE WITH CASTER WHEELS' 'Charles Forbes, Los Angeles, Calif'.

Application August 19, 1948, Serialio. 45,1257

(Cl. RSU-116) Thisinventionhas to dow-ith vehiclesrof the type having casters .or .swiveled wheels. The advantagesl of caster-wheeledtrucks-:used for handling materials in industry, including the easefof manual Vhandling @f such trucks, arezwell known. Ordinarily. no. springs are employed .bef tween the casters and the .body of. the vehicle, such vehicles being designed for only slow movement. However., there. are many instances where it is desirable ornecessary to move such casterwheeled. trucks at higher speeds thatl that for which they are designed. For example, suchtrucks are often. towed, singly or in trainsby powered vehicles. tered since invariably the` leading casters indi-- vidually will leavethe ground wheithere is the slightestunevenness, and in-thisposition fail. to.- trail or track properly.. Consequently damage frequently resultswhen the wheelsy again-.centact the ground since they receivea sudden. jar; and may be facing at an angle to `rthe direction of travel. Furthermore, the casters will shimmy on. anyv surface at increased speeds. Another'd-isf advantage is thatv caster-wheeled vehiclesv of coneventional construction can-not be controlledwhen towed down-grade, thevehicles tending' to jacki` knife..

It, therefore, is an object of this. invention-.tov provide a construction or mounting enabling the: use-of casters. on trucks of the type indicated.

which. imparts to the vehicle the advantages of the ordinary type of caster-wheeled vehicle together with the advantages of vehicles having a pair of leading pivotally mounted wheels which are connected for corresponding and controlled pivotal movement.

A particular object is to provide a caster mounting construction wherein a pair of casters at the forward end of a vehicle may be permitted either to swivel about their vertical individual axes` or locked against such individual swiveling and 'be associated. for controlledpivotal movementl together abouta single vertical axis.

More particularly an object'- of the invention is to provide a ,construction providing forV the mounting of a pair of casters at the forward end. of. the vehicle on a memberwhich itself `is..pivot' ally mounted on the vehicle, together witlimeans for locking either the two casters against individual swiveling or the said member against pivotal movement.

These and other objects will be apparent from the drawings and the following description there f. Referring to the drawings:

Difculties are then encounmounting.construction embodying the invention. as on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 -is a cross sectional view on theline.33 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a sectional viewonline 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5r is a fragmentary inverted plan view similar to Fig. 2, but showing. the. parts .ina different position; and.

Fig.. 6 vis a sectionon line 6 6v of Fig. 4..

More particularly describing the. invention, reference numeral VI 0 generally indicates the body of a truck or cart which is. provided witharpair of rear wheels. l l `mounted, on any suitablev wheel. supports, I2. Mounted -atthe forwardend of the?! truck. isa caster. or wheel. mount-ing generallyindicated -by I3. which willbe described in detail.

Referring. particularly to Figs.. 2-5 inclusive. the body of the truck l0 may be of anys-uitable size and shape and is shown as. being provided with ancor Ito which are attached, as by means; of welding, dependingmounting flangesindicated. by |6 and Ii,l which. extend fora limited distance.- transversely of thetruck. The mounting iianges. support. the wheel mounting 1.3. The 'wheel` mounting includes what may be termed a fifth wheel platev I8. or axle in the form ofa channel shaped. beam. which is` secured to. the mounting; flanges. for pivotal movement-with respect there-l toby means of the bearing` |.9 andking pin r20.. It is contemplatedthatany suitable swivel. con-l nection may be utilizedior securing the. memberk l'to. the under side ofthe body of thetruck Il).

A pair of casters 23 are mounted on themem.. ber I8, one at each. end'thereof.

The casterseach. include a. roller o-r wheel 24 rotatably mounted. on axle. pin 25 supportedin a bifurcated wheel. mounting 2.6 the upper end, of

whichis. formed toprovide a platell forming part of a bearing` 2`8 `vvhichincludes aking pin 2.9. Themounting 26l is so formed thatv the axisof rotation of thewheel. 24 is offset radially of the` axis about `which .the mountingv 2.5 may Swivel as.;

is usual with casters so .that the caster wheell will! normally trail' when the vehicle is moved..

The plate. |33 is provided withV a draw-beam.v

indicated by numeral llwh'ich includes an. clon# gatedl Central member 3lv and an attaching. bracket 32, the latter comprises the cross mem-v flanges 31 secured to the undersurface of the axle I8 by means of welding 38.

As will later become apparent, the draw-beam 30 is not only adapted for towing the vehicle, but is also utilized as a control member for actuating mechanism for locking the individual casters against swiveling or for locking the axle I8 against swiveling.

In order to provide for locking the individual casters 23 against swiveling, the plate 21 of each caster mounting is provided with a notch or recess 4D located at the inner edge of the plate when the caster is in trailing position at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the axle I8.

A pair of latches, each indicated by numeral 42 are mounted on the axle I8 inwardly of and respectively adjacent each of the casters 23. These latches each comprise a body 43 which is secured to the plate by bolts 44. The body has a centrally disposed interrupted pin housing comprising an inner part 45 and an outer part 45. A latch pin 41 is mounted in the housing and is normally urged outwardly by a spring 49 intel'- posed between the part 45 and a collar 58 on the pin.

The inner end of the body 43 is provided with an inwardly extending angularly disposed cam 5I which is adapted to be engaged by the outer end 41 of the latch pin which extends at right angles to the remainder of the pin.

In order to provide a means for actuating the latch pins, the inner end of the draw-beam 3D is provided with a tongue 55 to which is attached a fitting 58 by means of pin 51. The fitting 58 receives a lever 58, one end of which is threadedly mounted in the iitting and the other end of which is bifurcated and pivotally mounted on a Supprting link 50 attached to the axle I8 by pin 6I mounted in brackets 62 on axle I8. The lever 58 also supports a pin 64 which extends at right angles thereto and is long enough to engage the inner ends of the two latch pins 41.

It will be apparent from the construction described that with the draft-beam 30 in lowered or towing position, such as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4, that the latch pins 41 will be forced outwardly by their springs 49, ends 41 being pivoted downwardly by cams 5I, into position to engage the notches 49 in the plates 21 of the casters, thereby serving to lock the casters against swiveling. The ends 41 of latches 41 are restrained from pivotal movement by the stops 45a. When the beam 38 is in this lowered position, the entire plate I8 and the two casters then operate as a unit with the plate being free to pivot or swivel about the axis of the king pin 20.

It will also be apparent that when the draftbeam 3U is raised to the broken line position of Fig. 1, that the lever mechanism attached to the beam will cause the two latch pins 41 to be pulled inwardly out of notches 40 in caster plates 21 by pin 64 pulling the inner ends of the latch pins forward on cams 5I thereby freeing the casters for swiveling. Any suitable means such as the spring latch 65 (Figs. 4 and 6) may be used for releasably holding the beam in upper position. This latch comprises a U-shaped bracket 86 attached tothe body of the Vehicle and flat springs 88 therein. It is also desirable to provide a guide plate such as the U-shaped member 10 which receives the beam for maintaining the draw-beam and axle I8 against pivoting about the axis represented by the king pin 28. It will be apparent that when the beam 30 is raised, the plate I8 is locked against pivotal movement while the casters are free to swivel. On the other hand, when the draw-beam is lowered, the casters are locked against swiveling and the plate I8 is free to pivot.

It is contemplated that various changes and modifications can be made in the apparatus shown and described without departing from the scope of the invention as deiined in the claims` I claim: v

1. A caster type wheel mounting means for a vehicle comprising an axle pivotally mounted on the vehicle, a pair of wheels mounted on said axle for individual swiveling, wheel lock means for locking said wheels against swiveling, antipivot means for preventing said axle from pivoting, and actuating means operatively interconnecting said wheel lock means and said antipivot means to selectively operate the same.

2. In a wheeled vehicle, a towing and wheel support means adapted for mounting at one end of the vehicle comprising, an axle pivotally mounted on the vehicle, a pair of wheels mounted to swivel on said axle, a pair of latches mounted on said axle and engageable with said wheels for locking the wheels with their axes of rotation parallel to said axle, a draw-beam mounted on said axle for pivotal movement in a vertical plane, and means operatively connecting said draw-beam and said latches for actuating said latches to a non-locking position upon movement of said draw-beam to a given position.

3. In a wheeled vehicle, a towing and wheel support means adapted for mounting at one end of the vehicle comprising, an axle pivotally mounted on the vehicle, a pair of wheels mounted to swivel on said axle, a pair of latches mounted on said axle and engageable with said wheels for locking the wheels with their axes of rotation parallel to said axle, a draw-beam mounted on said axle for pivotal movement in a vertical plane, means operatively connecting said draw-beam and said latches for releasing said latches to locking position upon downward movement of said draw-beam, and means on said vehicle engageable with said draw-beam when the beam is in upward position for confining said beam against lateral movement and said axle against pivotal movement.

CHARLES F.r FORBES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the i'lle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

